


Early Yet

by shinesurge



Category: Kidd Commander (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Ulrich is German, noon is Sometimes Kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 15:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinesurge/pseuds/shinesurge
Summary: Post Mile High Engage. Ulrich's an early riser.





	Early Yet

Ulrich closed the bedroom door gently behind him, shifted the bundle of clothes in his arm and padded down the hall to the bathroom. He was almost silent; although they'd only been sailing for perhaps a week, he had already learned which floorboards creaked loudest and how to avoid them so there was no chance he might wake Phineas. She seemed to be a heavy sleeper and had never stirred even a little as he crept by her, but Ulrich was always too raw when he startled awake like this in the mornings to risk dealing with her, or anybody for that matter. He didn't want to talk about why his hands were shaking or why he couldn't sleep, he just wanted something hot to drink and to be out of his sweaty shirt. 

He changed into a set of clothes Ellie had sent along, blessedly clean if pointedly ridiculous, tied his hair back and laced up his clunky boots. They weren't planning on landing today, but he wore his shoes around the ship for the same reasons he kept his guns strapped to his sides even when they hadn't seen another soul for days. It had little to do with their practical functions. 

He left his pajamas in the bathroom, in a little hamper he'd requested from Noon a few nights ago so he wouldn't have to make an extra trip back into the bedroom. Noon, thankfully, had provided without prodding him for information.

Noon seemed perfectly fine with Ulrich's bizarre morning routine, and in fact the last two days the dim light under the cabinets had been switched on and there had been a clean mug waiting for Ulrich near the stove when he arrived in the kitchen. He'd worried Noon would be with him the way they were with Phineas, chattering away, too much energy to keep up with so early, but other than a kind greeting and a response to Ulrich's thanks for setting up the kitchen neither of them usually spoke at all. When Ulrich got downstairs, a pink and heart-shaped mug was set next to their fat white kettle. He put some water on to boil and leaned back against the counter to wait.

Even through his thick soles Ulrich could feel a very, very faint vibration constantly thrumming through the floorboards as the ship hummed through the sky. One got used to it, like the sound of electricity threaded through the walls of modern architecture, the sort of constance one has to look for to notice. It was a comfort only missed once it was gone, and god he had; the nights in the desert shack had been so awful, so quiet. Phineas' presence had eased it just slightly. He remembered stopping to stare at her glowing faintly in the dark as he snuck outside before sunrise, yellow starlight flaring out and easing away in time with her breathing. He had considered running away. He considered it several times a day, a useless piece in a junk drawer that had to be moved to get to anything else. 

Too early, too early.

"Morgen," he rasped to the empty room, his first word of the day still thick with sleep. He cleared his throat softly.

"Morning, bright eyes." Noon responded cheerfully. The white noise of the stove working the water hung in the air and thing else was said.

Yes, it was nice being back inside walls with life in them. Ulrich planted his feet a little more in his shoes, closing his eyes and trying to focus on the drone of the ship. He wouldn't sleep now, but he was still tired. He could rest in other ways at least.

The kettle threatened to whistle at him and he took it off the heat before it could get too excited. Ulrich opened a cupboard and picked out a little paper packet, noting sadly it was the last one in its box, and dumped its contents into the mug. It was fine pink powder, almost glittering with something, and covered with water it foamed up and up, Ulrich's practiced pour not quite letting it flow over the rim. He breathed in the sharp scent of artificial berry and held the cup in both hands until it burned him. The sting usually helped drag him out of his funk, nudging his stupid anxious body to catch up with the knowledge that he was safe. Mostly. Carefully, he carried his drink through the side door, outside to the garden, and settled in the cool grass.

Lucky Noon must have had some sort of normalizing effect on the atmosphere around the ship, because the gentle breeze Ulrich always felt when he sat outside on calm mornings like this one shouldn't have been possible with their cruising speed. The sky was still dark and full of stars, the barest hint of green beginning to warm the jagged Sprawl horizon. They were flying over a glitchfield that was eating into a fresh set of mountain peaks, both covered in wind turbines, white spires stark inside the impossible black gaps in the landscape and disappearing down into whistling unfathomable depths. Ulrich shivered and tore his eyes away from the abyss, studying the pulsing red lights dotting the mountains instead. They flashed in perfect sync, the whole mountainside lighting up with eyes ringed by massive turning lashes before going out again, casting the land back into darkness that writhed with shadow shapes. He'd never been this far out in the Sprawl before, everything was so _big_ out here. It made him dizzy to look out at the cartoonishly huge figures of the landscape cutting against the sky, but something in it was comforting too. Being insignificant and unnoticed for once was its own relief. Not one of the lights looking back at him gave a damn about Ulrich Weiss. He sipped his drink and waited for the sun.


End file.
